Most student headlines are vague, passive, or too long to fit. This 35-slide workshop fixes all three problems in one class period — and gives students a toolkit they can use on deadline from day one. The lesson moves from principle to practice: house style decisions first, then count rules in plain English, then what subheads are actually supposed to do (add context — not repeat the headline).
See it on Teachers Pay Teachers — $6.39
Sixty headline stems grouped by story type give students a starting point when they're stuck, and two sets of bad-to-better revisions show exactly how specifics, numbers, and strong verbs change a weak hed into one worth printing. What's Included: 35-slide PowerPoint workshop (.pptx) House style choices — capitalization, punctuation, numerals, voice Headline count rules in plain English Subhead (dek) instruction — what they should add, what they should never repeat 60 headline stems grouped by News, Feature, Sports, and Opinion/Service Subhead stems to pair with each headline type Two sets of bad-to-better revision examples Practice slides — revise a vague headline, write a matching subhead, build a hed/dek pair from a fact set Analyzer checklist students can apply to any draft How to Use It: Runs as a single-class-period workshop.
The practice slides let you pause and have students write before moving on — works well in pairs or individually. The analyzer checklist transfers directly to peer review or self-editing on future stories. This slideshow is part of the Journalism: Headline and Subhead Toolkit — Super-Bundle, which adds the practice worksheet and quiz at significant savings.
It's also included in the News Writing Professional Bundle and the Complete High School Journalism Curriculum Bundle. If this resource saved you prep time, please leave a rating under My Purchases Provide Feedback. Every review earns you TpT Credits toward future purchases — roughly $1 in credits for every $10 reviewed. Follow Starmaker Tools for Teachers to be notified when new resources launch or go on sale.
Keywords: journalism headlines, subhead writing, headline workshop, journalism slideshow, HS journalism, high school journalism, news writing, headline and subhead, dek writing, journalism lesson, headline stems, journalism grades 9-12, student journalists, news writing unit, journalism curriculum
Designed for grades 9-12.
Starmaker English and Journalism Tools 
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